The Name of Your Website or Blog
BREAKUP: Enduring Divorce
Your Website or Blog URL
What Do You Write About on Your Website or Blog?
My website focuses on breakup/divorce. Part of the site is devoted to information about my book "BREAKUP: Enduring Divorce", explaining what is unique about it, and includes reviews and the first chapter of the book.
The other part of my site contains my blog, which covers a range of subjects related to divorce/breakup and recovery. Some of the articles reflect my personal experience as a man who went through a tough divorce and came out better for it. Other articles are more general, dealing with therapy, writing and handling crises. Most have appeared in e-magazines.
What Makes You an Expert?
My expertise lies in the area of recovery from divorce, particularly how therapy can aid recovery. My expertise is derived from my personal experience, which is related in detail in my book BREAKUP: Enduring Divorce, published earlier this year.
Three features make the book unique:
1. It is an account of divorce written by a man. It's unusual to find a book on divorce written by a man, especially one that exposes intimate feelings and male vulnerabilities.
2. The book is a portrayal of divorce executed from the inside. It is not an after-the-event reflection, written with the benefit of hindsight. It is a warts-and-all account recorded at the time in a journal and later turned into a book.
3. It is a unique account of the role of therapy in recovery from divorce. The narrative includes detailed recordings of my therapy sessions, both individual and group, showing how they impacted on my life and aided my recovery.
My goal is to open up the divorce discourse and to ease the pain of breakup. In my view, men, who are party to every breakup, are under-represented in the overall debate about divorce. On a personal level, it is said that men are reluctant to reveal their feelings, and evidence on the social media platforms suggests that they are less willing to participate in discussions, etc. I feel that the divorce debate would benefit from greater involvement by men.
Great strides have been made in bringing divorce out of the closet but the role played in this by men is minimal. Their lack of involvement throws the onus onto women, which is both unfortunate and unhealthy.
I regard divorce as a minefield and my book and my blog are intend to provide people contemplating divorce or going through the process with a map to help them get though the minefield safely. Having been there and recorded what I experienced, I feel I am well-placed to help others weather the storm.
Formal professional experience: I trained as a Counselor at Birkbeck College, University of London, the Tavistock Centre and the Anna Freud Centre. My approach is psychodynamic. Most of my work has been in the field of education, working primarily with teenagers and young adults. I have been able to adapt my professional background to suit an adult audience.
